1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to data processing systems and, in particular, to a data processing system and method including a server and client computer system coupled together utilizing a network. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a data processing system and method including a server and client computer system coupled together utilizing a network for remotely controlling modification of a client's initialization settings.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal computer systems are well known in the art. They have attained widespread use for providing computer power to many segments of today's modern society. Personal computers (PCs) may be defined as a desktop, floor standing, or portable microcomputer that includes a system unit having a central processing unit (CPU) and associated volatile and non-volatile memory, including random access memory (RAM) and basic input/output system read only memory (BIOS ROM), a system monitor, a keyboard, one or more flexible diskette drives, a CD-ROM drive, a fixed disk storage drive (also known as a "hard drive"), a pointing device such as a mouse, and an optional network interface adapter. One of the distinguishing characteristics of these systems is the use of a motherboard or system planar to electrically connect these components together. Examples of such personal computer systems are IBM's PC series, Aptiva series, and Thinkpad series.
With PCs being increasingly connected into networks to allow transfers of data among computers to occur, more operations such as maintenance, updating of applications, and data collections are occurring over the network. Computer networks are also becoming essential to their user. It is desirable to minimize loss of productivity by increasing availability of network resources.
With the evolution from mainframe and dumb terminal to client-server networks, computing has created several issues for Information Services (IS) managers. In the mainframe/dumb terminal world, the communication path was from the terminal to the mainframe and then to other systems. In the client-server world, the client has the ability to send messages to and from other clients, as well as to the server.
When a computer is reset or initially powered-on, a boot process begins. First, POST begins executing. POST is an initialization code which configures the system utilizing initialization settings stored in a storage device, such as CMOS storage. Once POST has configured the system, BIOS then controls the basic operation of the hardware utilizing the hardware as it was configured by POST. The boot process is complete once an operating system has been handed control of the system. In order for the boot process to be complete, POST must complete its execution.
A computer system requires a basic input/output system (BIOS) in order to operate. The BIOS is code that controls basic hardware operations, such as interactions with disk drives, hard drives, and the keyboard.
POST and BIOS are both typically stored as a single image in a storage device such as a flash memory. In addition, a default or backup copy of the initialization settings may also be stored in the flash memory.
The initialization settings stored in CMOS may be damaged. When this occurs, the only option is to restore the default values stored in the flash. When the default copy is restored, any previous configuration information (user modifications) in the system is no longer known. Therefore, a user must re-customize the system which may be very time consuming. In order to customize the initialization settings, the user must go into a setup screen and manually modify the settings.
Therefore a need exists for a data processing system and method for a server computer system remotely controlling modifications of a client computer system's initialization settings.